World Athletics Championship 2022 | India in line to get second-ever medal with Neeraj Chopra in focus

03/30/2022

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Anju Bobby George's bronze in the women's long jump at the 2003 World Championship remains India's only medal at the tournament. But this time the Indian team will have a chance to change that at the latest edition of the World Championship which will be hosted in Oregon, USA from July 15 to 24.

For the very first time in history, the Indian team at the World Championships will have a defending Olympic winner. Neeraj Chopra, a javelin thrower who made history by becoming India's first athlete to win a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo 2020, will lead the Indian effort in Eugene.

Chopra will be aiming to erase India's lengthy medal drought at the international championships after missing the 2019 competition due to injury. Because of his Olympic medal-winning throw in Tokyo, the 24-year-old has already qualified for the World Athletics Championships 2022. The 87.58m effort comfortably surpassed the 85m qualifying requirement for the World Athletics Championships 2022, securing Neeraj's berth in the Eugene competition.

At the World Athletics Championships 2022, each federation (country) can submit a maximum of three qualified athletes per event or one qualified team in the case of relay teams. Extra wild card entries are also available, which are reserved for reigning world champions and winners of certain high-priority athletics events from the previous year.

Athletes and teams can qualify in one of three ways. They can either satisfy the global athletics championships qualifying standards at any sanctioned event during a specific qualification window, or they can meet the world athletics championships qualifying criteria at any sanctioned event outside of the qualification window. It is also possible to qualify based on global rankings as of the end of the qualification season.

The third option is to qualify by placing in certain events during the course of the qualification period. The Indian athlete Neeraj Chopra isn't the only one who has qualified for the global championships. Avinash Sable has previously broken the qualifying record in the 3000m steeplechase numerous times (8:22.00). He achieved a national record of 8.16.21 in the India Grand Prix 2 and recorded 8.18.12 at Tokyo 2020.

In their respective sports, Olympians Tajinderpal Singh Toor (men's shot put) and Kamalpreet Kaur (women's discus throw) have also broken the qualifying records.

The race walkers, Priyanka Goswami (women's 20km), Sandeep Kumar (men's 20km), and Rahul Kumar (women's 20km), have qualified for the National Race-Walking Championships in Ranchi in February 2021. They had also qualified for Tokyo 2020 thanks to the identical runs.

At the 2019 World Championships, India sent 23 competitors to compete. On June 29, the final list of qualifying athletes for the 2022 edition will be released.

INDIANS WHO QUALIFIED FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Neeraj Chopra - men’s javelin throw

Tajinderpal Singh Toor - men’s shot put

Kamalpreet Kaur - women’s discus throw

Priyanka Goswami - women’s 20km race walk

Sandeep Kumar - men’s 20km race walk

Rahul Kumar - men’s 20km race walk